ABILENE, Texas — The Wildcats got the job done at home with a dominant 85-60 win over UIW to close out the regular season with an undefeated, 13-0, home record to punctuate a stellar season. ACU was without two key members of the lineup with
Coryon Mason and
Clay Gayman unable to play, but that would not phase the team as the jumped out to an early 16-6 lead and never looked back.
Southland Significance
The win, combined with a Sam Houston loss to SFA, allowed the Wildcats to secure the No. 2-seed in the Southland Conference tournament and a triple-bye on the week. The team will now play their first game on Friday and will only need two wins in Katy to successfully defend their 2019 tournament crown.
Key Plays
- Kohl started the game with back-to-back offensive boards and made his way to the free throw line to help set the tone for the game.
- McLaughlin and Morris hit back-to-back three to put the Wildcats up 16-6 at the 12:03 mark in the first half.
- Morris got a steal that led to a Joe Pleasant three on the other end that pushed the Wildcats lead to 13.
- After the Cardinals cut the lead to seven, the Wildcats got back-to-back open layups off of great feeds to help push the lead back to double digits.
- Damien Daniels got the second half scoring started with a three that pushed ACU's lead to 17.
- Another Morris steal got the Wildcats out in transition for a dunk from Cameron Steele.
- A three from Airion Simmons gave the Wildcats a 31-point lead with just over five minutes left to play.
Turning Point
After a slow offensive start by both teams, the Wildcats were able to build a 16-6 lead after back-to-back threes from
Logan McLaughlin and
Mahki Morris. The Cardinals were able to get within single digits only once more after that and the momentum shifted fully to ACU.
Stat Pack
- Kolton Kohl had 10 of his 14 points in the first half, including scoring the first four points of the game.
- Reggie Miller totaled nine assists on the night, just two shy of his career-record. He also scored five points with five rebounds and three steals.
- Tobias Cameron scored 10 of his 13 points on the night in the first half and played crucial minutes early for the Wildcats.
- 11 different players scored for the Wildcats with three scoring in double figures.
- The Wildcats dominated the boards, outrebounding UIW 43-31.
- ACU forced 19 total turnovers with 14 steals on the night. Mahki Morris led the way with four steals, tying his career-high.
- With the win, the Wildcats finished the season 13-0 in the Teague Center.
Up Next
ACU will travel to Katy next week to participate in the Hercules Tires Southland Conference Tournament. As the two-seed they will play on Friday at 8 p.m. against the winner of the previous night's game.
